hut in the village of Sahalil
It does not occur to anyone that iron chains and confinement between walls and living in a small mountain cave in complete darkness and scorching day is a cure for mental illness or epilepsy, but reality seems to challenge all the most dark and bitter imaginations.
This is what struck us when we learned the story of Ali Mufreh Al Sahlouli, 57, from Al-Sahalil, in the Al-Eidabi governorate in the northern part of Wadi Al-Sabab, who spent 37 years of his sick life bound by iron chains, not exceeding one meter in length. Iron shackles shackled his hands and feet, and the fire of the unit was ironing him in a small hut surrounded by a fence of metal mesh, isolated from the community.
When you see this hut from afar, no one thinks that a human lives in it, rather some think it is a pool of water or a dwelling place for sheep, but when you approach it and hear the sound of the mountain hymn (Tariq) or (Walsh) it comes out from the belly of this hut, and it takes you in awe and wonder, and perhaps you are filled with horror Who lives in it.
Muhammad Mufreh Al-Sahlouli, the younger brother of Ali, says: Ali suffered from this condition at the age of twenty years. His onset was epilepsy. We took him to the hospital to no avail, and he did not take the treatment he was given, until his psychological condition deteriorated, and we demanded that he be transferred to a hospital Psychiatric diseases in Taif, but no one answered us.
Al-Sahlouli added: The last time they brought “Ali” to the mental health hospital was about 4 years ago, and the hospital kept him for several days, where he was given some medicines, and then they asked us to come to collect him, while we were doing his affairs, cleaning his clothes and feeding him from our food.
And about how to deal with him, Muhammad Mufreh said: He does not accept anyone and we deal with him with caution and in our own way, and now he has turned into an aggressive personality, and he was tied 47 years ago after he burned our house twice and attacked his mother by beating and hurting the neighbors, and about the presence of his father at the beginning of the disease he said Our father passed away when we were young, and Ali was in good health at the time, and the mother was the one who took care of him, but now she is more than eighty years old.
Regarding Ali’s monthly income, Muhammad said: He has no income, and he is not a beneficiary of social security, because of his obligation to attend the hospital to obtain a medical report, which is difficult for us to remove from his home, and it is dangerous for everyone. I am now 47 years old and I do not have a monthly income, and I cannot leave my brother alone with my sick and elderly mother, for I am the one who manages his daily life and takes care of his affairs.
Al-Sahlouli ended his speech with tears shedding sadness and pain over his brother’s condition, and he says: Is mental health unable to receive Ali to put him in a clinic under medical observation? And his recovery from his current situation, which exacerbates the deterioration of his psychological condition.
We uploaded Ali''s story to show it to Dr. Rashad Muhammad Al-Senussi, Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Research Center at Jazan University, who said: This important humanitarian issue touches a segment of our brothers who may God have predestined them suffer from mental illnesses who have lived with painful years while they are chained, sorry for the existence of such cases in Our society despite the improvement in health care in general and psychological in particular, in addition to social services that reached most groups of society with special social or health conditions.
He added: These cases are afflicted with severe mental illnesses, which are known to psychiatrists, and are spread by up to 1% of the population, and their causes are due to defects in higher mental functions (perception, memory, thinking integrity, the ability to judge and estimate). This makes the patient unable to take care of himself, carry out his personal needs, his social functions, or communicate with others in a correct manner, and this infection is usually at an early age in the twenties, while mental retardation appears since early childhood.
For his part, Khaled Al-Thubaiti, a media spokesman at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said that there are field social researchers who research the case and follow it up wherever it is, and whoever cares or is based on Ali''s affairs must come to the insurance with a report on his health and psychological condition.
The President of the Human Rights Association in Jazan, Dr. Ahmed Al-Bahkali, explained that such a case, the association must receive a full explanation in addition to the medical reports on the case, indicating that the association begins following it up and communicates with the concerned authorities to solve it. Adding that the association is assessing the situation from some cooperating members and researchers concerned, and matching what is presented to reality.
He continued: If the hospitals in the Jazan region are unable to treat him, then the Health Affairs Department is asked to transfer him to the Central Specialized Hospital at the level of the Kingdom, and each case has a method that suits it, indicating that it is necessary for the patient''s family to initiate the application to the branch of the association, and attach reports proving the case with their dates .
